DUBAI // Al Wasl will be looking to replace Edson Puch and Richard Porta this month after the failure of the two foreign professionals to impress Diego Maradona.
Puch, from Chile, went missing from an important training session on the eve of a match earlier this season and has spent most of his time since on the injury list.
Porta, who counts as Wasl's Asian player because of his dual Uruguay and Australia citizenship, has scored once in seven Pro League matches.
Marwan bin Bayat, the chairman of the club, confirmed in a television interview that Wasl are looking to replace Puch and Porta during the January transfer window.
He said the club are close to signing a foreign professional currently playing in the Saudi Arabia league, but declined to name the player.
Some media reports have suggested the player could be Argentine Juan Ignacio Mercier, who is playing for Al Nassr.
Maradona gave Mercier, a 31-year-old midfielder, his international debut in 2010 when Maradona was coach of the Argentina national team.
Mercier was an important member of the Argentinos Juniors team, who won the 2010 Clausura championship. He scored the opening goal in Argentinos' 2-1 win over Huracan in the final game of the season, which secured the championship.
In July, Mercier moved on a two-year deal to the Saudi club.
Some media reports have also linked Wasl with a move for the former Spain and Real Madrid star Raul Gonzalez, whose two-year contract with the German club, Schalke 04, expires at the end of the season.
The club have also identified Ferydoon Zandi, the Iranian-German professional, as a likely replacement for Porta to fill their Asian player slot.
Zandi, 32, an attacking midfielder, was part of the Germany Under-17 and Under-21 teams, and has 29 caps for Iran.
For the first nine years of his professional career, he played in the Bundesliga before moving to Cyprus. He is currently with Iran's Esteghlal.
Maradona has been asking for reinforcements over the last few months and warned of a cull following their 2-1 defeat at Al Wahda on Friday.
The Argentine described that performance in Abu Dhabi as Wasl's "worst" since he took over in June.
"There will be no place for any player who does not meet our aspiration," said Maradona, whose team have earned only two points in their last four games. "The team played really badly, and I did not expect this from them.
"We have become Santa Claus, distributing gifts in this Christmas period, and I hate that. I do not like giving gifts to my competitors. The team lacks personality, determination and the desire to win. I want us to win, but we keep making mistakes and that is unacceptable. I am really sad about that."
arizvi@thenational.ae
The biog
Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer
Marital status: Single
Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran
Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food
Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish
Website: www.liliane-tannoury.com
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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